Leon Martin

Leon Martin (20 May 1742-11 June 1804) was a Colonel of the New York Militia during the American Revolutionary War.

Biography
Leon Martin was born on 20 May 1742 in Manhattan, New York to a family of Protestant English-Americans. Martin was a cobbler in Manhattan until the start of the American Revolutionary War, when he joined the New York Militia and became the colonel of a regiment in 1776. On 30 October 1776, his militia force repelled the British Army's attack at the Battle of Burton's Mill, preventing them from launching a surprise attack on George Washington's army in Harlem. This battle was a small victory, and short-lived; the British would force the Americans out of New York and occupy it until 1783. Martin served under Washington until the war's end in 1783, and he returned to his job as a cobbler.